Spurs slapped with $250,000 fine

NBA Commissioner David Stern speaks during a news conference to discuss former NBA referee Tim Donaghy. Original Filename: IMG_2645.JPG

Giving the Spurs their best possible chance of winning tonight's key Southwest Division game in the AT&T Center against the Memphis Grizzlies has cost coach Gregg Popovich's team $250,000.

Concluding that Popovich's decision to hold four key players out of Thursday's game against the Heat in Miami “did a disservice to the league and our fans,” NBA commissioner David Stern announced the hefty fine Friday evening.

Only five times in league history has a larger fine been levied on a team or individual, though several players have received lengthy suspensions that cost them more in lost wages.

There was no immediate reaction from the Spurs organization. The club isn't expected to appeal because Stern is the final arbiter of punitive action.

Stern decided Popovich's decision to play without team captain and two-time MVP Tim Duncan, All-NBA point guard Tony Parker, two-time All-Star Manu Ginobili and starting forward Danny Green violated a provision in the league's operations manual that prohibits resting players in a manner contrary to the best interests of the NBA.

The rule cited had been reviewed by the league's Board of Governors in April 2010, according to the NBA news release announcing Stern's action.

“The result here is dictated by the totality of the facts in this case,” Stern said in the release. “The Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an early-season game that was the team's only regular-season visit to Miami. The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or the league office in a timely way. Under these circumstances, I have concluded that the Spurs did a disservice to the league and our fans.”

Before tipoff of Thursday's game, Popovich defended his decision as “the best thing for our team.” He cited the Spurs' brutal early road schedule, including the most recent six-game journey that concluded with the game in Miami, the fourth in five nights.

“I think it would be unwise to play our guys in that kind of a situation, based on their history,” Popovich said. “We've done this before in hopes of making a wiser decision, rather than a popular decision. Perhaps it will give us an opportunity to stay on the court with Memphis on Saturday night. Historically, when you go on a long road trip, that first game when you come home is really tough.

“Memphis is one of the best teams in the league, and they're more of a concern to us than playing four games in five nights at the end of a 10-day road trip.”

Indeed, tonight's game matches the top two teams in the Western Conference and the Southwest Division.

Acutely aware of the difficulty of winning playoff games in Memphis — the Grizzlies won all three games in Memphis when they eliminated the second-seeded Spurs, 4-2, in a first-round matchup in 2010 — Popovich also understands the NBA's procedures for breaking ties in the final regular season standings. Those begin with head-to-head records then go to record within the conference.

Precedent for sanctions against teams that don't require noninjured players to participate was established years ago, but the penalties were relatively paltry.

Popovich has rested numerous players over the past several seasons without sanction, including a Feb. 3 game in Denver in 2009 when he also sat his “Big Three” stars, Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, as well as Michael Finley. Last season, he sat the Big Three in a blowout loss in Portland on Feb. 21.

The inclusion of “early-season game” in Stern's carefully worded statement seemed a clear attempt to make a distinction between past practices and Thursday's decision.